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Monday 5:45 pm EST – National Guard troops were deployed near the White House after President Trump said he wanted a military show of force against violent protests gripping the nation.
Several truckloads of DC National Guard troops arrived near Lafayette Park across Pennsylvania Avenue where large groups of protesters had fought with police for the past three nights, at one point on Friday causing officials to have President Trump taken to a bunker below the White House for his protection.
US troops and military vehicles are now guarding the White House, ratcheting up the tensions between the government and demonstrators upset over incidents of police brutality.
Shortly after, President Trump came to the White House Rose Garden to call himself the “law and order” president, saying “domestic terrorism” was to blame for the unrest.
“As we speak, I am dispatching thousands and thousands of heavily armed soldiers, military personnel, and law enforcement officers to stop the rioting, looting, vandalism, assaults, and the wanton destruction of property,” he said. “We will end it now,”
At the same time the President called on governors to use their National Guard units to “dominate the streets” and he US troops and military vehicles are now guarding the White House, ratcheting up the tensions between the government and demonstrators upset over incidents of police brutality that he would deploy the United States active duty military if governors failed to use the National Guard more forcefully.
He said he may invoke the 1807 Insurrection Act, which permits a president to deploy military inside the U.S. to deal with civil disorder.
By Alex Ammohostianos
